Men’s
Tennis Continues Surge in ITA Team Rankings 3/26/03Commodores Preparing for Showdowns with LSU and Tulane

NASHVILLE,
Tenn. - The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team gained its
first Intercollegiate Tennis Association Top 10 ranking on
Wednesday, as it comes in at No. 8. The Commodores head into
this weekend’s matches with No. 20 Louisiana State and
No. 27 Tulane boasting a 13-2 overall record and 4-2 mark
in the conference. Head coach Ken Flach’s squad now
is the third highest ranked team in the SEC, standing behind
only No. 2 Florida and No. 5 Ole Miss, who Vanderbilt upset
last Sunday.

In the singles rankings, junior Bobby Reynolds (Acworth,
Ga.) stayed firm at No. 2, only standing behind Baylor sophomore
Benedikt Dorsch. Reynolds will ride a 22 match winning streak
into Friday’s match at LSU, where he will take on 38th-ranked
Peter Richman. Fellow junior Chad Harris (Aurora, Colo.) climbed
up three spots to No. 10, as he carries a 26-8 overall record
and a 11-2 dual-match mark into this weekend. Besides the
University of Illinois, who has three players in the top ten,
Vanderbilt has the second most in the country.

Sophomore Matt Lockin (Lilburn, Ga.) enters Wednesday’s
rankings at No. 89, as he dropped 17 positions after going
1-1 last weekend at Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The University
of Michigan transfer is currently 18-10 on the year and 8-5
in dual matches while competing at the No. 3 position for
the Commodores.

Reynolds and junior Lewie Smith (Memphis, Tenn.) made the
biggest move in the doubles poll, as Vanderbilt’s No.
1 team jumped up 29 spots from No. 43 to No. 14. The duo is
coming off an 8-5 victory over then 17th-ranked Alex Hartman
and Claes Lindholm, who actually moved up to No. 11. Harris
and sophomore Scott Brown (St. Louis, Mo.) actually dropped
16 positions to No. 23 despite going 3-0 last week. Harris
and Brown have compiled a solid 15-2 mark since joining forces
back at the SEC Indoor Championships in January.